A Degree in Danger
by measuremesky
Summary: When the ninja discover a potential threat traced from within the depths of Ninjago City, they find that it is something far more sinister than they could have imagined, and a group of college students are responsible. The team must go undercover to stop the impending threat, and to have a couple crazy college experiences on the way. Rated T for mild suggestive themes.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! After watching some of Season 6 of Ninjago, I was inspired to write this, even though it's completely unrelated to the season, but I thought I'd share it with you anyways. Don't worry, I'm still working on the next chapter for The Fire Within, so stay tuned for that. Enjoy the story!**

"I'm so gonna beat your high score, Cole!"

"Not a chance, Bluebell! I'm already in the lead!"

"No way, I'm going to kick both your guys' butts!"

Jay, Cole, and Lloyd were sitting on the floor in front of the TV, enjoying an afternoon of video games, since Sensei had abbreviated training due to the intense heat that had been forecasted for the first half of the week. It was definitely hot for early September, but the ninja didn't mind, since they could relax in the cool air conditioning, thanks to Nya.

Unlike the other ninja, Kai was patiently waiting by the phone, hoping to hear from his girlfriend Sam, who had moved into her dorm room this past Sunday, along with her roommate Brooke, who just so happened to be casually dating Cole. Being the gentleman that Kai was, he had helped her move her boxes and other various items from the Bounty into the dorm room, after her summer of living on the Bounty while she had done an internship at Borg Industries.

Now it was Tuesday, and only one full day had passed since she had been gone, but he still missed her. It was certainly different not having her around as often as during the summer, when the couple had had a minor falling out. They were just starting to patch up their relationship, and yet, Sam had to leave again.

Thankfully, Sensei was keeping them busy with training, so his mind was more than occupied. Especially with four noisy brothers around, it was hard to dwell on things. In fact, he hadn't had a second of peace since Sam had left, until now.

As he reached for the phone, desperate to call her, Zane walked into the control room.

"Hello, Kai," the ice ninja said.

Hearing his teammate's voice, Kai pulled his hand away from the receiver.

"Hey, Zane," he said, trying to sound as casual as possible.

Nonetheless, the nindroid tilted his head curiously. "And what have you been up to, Kai?" he asked. "It appears you are waiting for your significant other to call you."

Kai face-palmed himself in exasperation, but mostly out of embarrassment. Zane was always right.

"Yeah," he sighed. "That obvious, huh?"

Zane nodded. "Indeed. But I am not so sure of what you are worried about exactly," he said. "Isn't she going to school to get an education?"

"Yeah, but -"

"And in order to get an education, she needs to be focused and free of unnecessary distractions?"

"Yes…"

"Then why are you so eager to call her? I have never been to college but there is a high probability that she is studying at the moment."

The red ninja ninja rolled his eyes. "I am well aware of that, Zane. But it couldn't hurt to talk to her for a few minutes, right?"

Zane was silent; instead, he stared at Kai blankly. The red ninja was not sure if Zane was trying to make a point, or if he was thinking, but either way, it was making him uncomfortable.

"Fine, I'll tell you," he grumbled. "It's just that, with the new school year starting and all, I'm afraid she'll meet someone else…that she likes better than me."

"By someone else, you mean another male. Is that correct?" Zane clarified.

"Yes, Zane, someone else," he answered, narrowing his eyes at his brother. Sometimes he couldn't tell if Zane was trying to pull his leg, or if he was merely seeking information.

"It's just that…I know we patched things up, but…what if she, you know, develops feelings for someone else?" Kai asked. "It could happen. I mean, there are tons of guys at that school, and no doubt some of them are attractive," he rambled on. "And she's cute, and no doubt some of them will have their eye on her, and…"

Zane put a comforting and on his teammate's shoulder. "Do not worry, Kai. Love goes far beyond physical attraction. If Sam wants to be with you, she will be with you." The nindroid smiled. "And my calculations predict that there is a 100% chance of that happening."

At his brother's words of reassurance, the red ninja returned the smile.

"Thanks, Zane," he said. "Maybe I will wait to call her."

"Ninja!" a voice exclaimed. Kai and Zane turned their heads to see Sensei Wu poking his head into the control room. "I need to speak with you. Come, quickly."

The friends exchanged uncertain glances, wondering what their teacher wanted to speak about. And by the tone of his voice, it was urgent.

Following their teacher's lead, Kai and Zane made their way into the living room and saw that the television has been turned on, and that the other three ninja were no longer playing their game. Nya stood by Sensei Wu with a concerned look on her face.

The channel was currently on the news, and the reporter, Gayle Gossip from Ninjago City, was in the middle of her latest story.

"We just received word that there was a major attack in Jamanakai Village about three hours ago. Four young suspects wearing backpacks were seen leaving the scene unharmed. If you have any information regarding these four suspects, please notify the police."

"Attack? What kind of attack?" Nya asked out loud.

Kai could only stare dumbfoundedly at the TV. "Jamanakai Village?"

Cole unglued his eyes from the screen and turned to their teacher. "What's going on, Sensei?" he asked.

The martial arts teacher stroked his beard; concern shone in his faded blue eyes.

"I do not know," he answered. "I suppose I could telephone the police commissioner and see if he has more information regarding the attacks," he thought aloud. "I believe will do that now."

And with that, Sensei walked out of the room, leaving the ninja and Nya to talk amongst themselves.

"Well, at least it's not Serpentine," Jay chuckled nervously, in an attempt to ease the tension that had fallen over the room.

"Yeah, but it could be worse," Lloyd remarked.

"Yeah, but why Jamanakai Village?" Nya asked. "It's not exactly an upscale place."

"But it does have lots of machinery," Zane said. "Perhaps the attackers were looking for a specific thing that cannot be found in Ninjago City."

"But what would that be?" Kai asked. "The only thing there is in Jamanakai Village are blacksmith shops."

"Maybe it was just a distraction," Cole reasoned. "I mean, maybe they created a big mess because they want their real motive to be kept under the radar."

"Or maybe they're just a bunch of dumb kids looking to cause trouble," Jay said. "Not everything has to be all doom-and-gloom threatening."

"No, but I am afraid that it is," Sensei said, entering the room again. "I just spoke with the commissioner. And apparently, about an hour ago, some police weapons were stolen."

"Stolen?" Nya repeated.

"Yes," Sensei answered. "Six to be exact."

"Oh, man," Jay said. "Now we have crazy psychopaths on the loose, with weapons!"

"What should we do, Sensei?" Cole asked, ignoring his teammate's cry of panic.

The martial arts teacher was silent for a moment. "I'm not sure."

"If we can track where the weapons are, then maybe we can stop whoever is behind all this," Zane suggested.

"Great idea, Zane," Nya said. "I can trace where they are right now if you want."

At his pupils' suggestion, Sensei nodded. "Yes, Nya. Let us prevent these attackers from striking a second time."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's find these bozos," Cole said, driving his fist into his palm.

Not wanting to waste time, the team went into the control room, with Nya taking her place in front of the computer. The samurai pushed a few buttons, and a map appeared on the screen, along with a few small, blinking yellow dots.

"This is the map of Ninjago," Nya explained. "Now let's see where these weapons are."

The ninja and Sensei watched the screen expectantly as the screen zoomed in on the dots, showing just a map of the city.

Jay held his breath while Cole felt himself leaning forward in anticipation. As usual, Kai and Lloyd's expressions remained serious, while Zane looked thoughtful.

As the location of the dots fully came into view, the ninja gasped. Near the blinking dots was the street Cherry Blossom Avenue, which ran through the campus of Ninjago University.

"No, it can't be…" Kai murmured under his breath, gaping at the computer screen.

"Ninjago University," Jay said, "where Sam goes to school."

"Yeah," Cole answered. "She and Brooke just started school yesterday."

"So did the bad guys," Lloyd remarked, studying the screen. "Are we sure the weapons are there?"

"Well, so far, it's the only lead we've got," Nya said. "And a college campus would be a perfect cover. No one would suspect it."

However, Kai was too engrossed in his thoughts to pay any attention. He could only stare at the screen in disbelief. For all he knew, Sam could be only a few feet away from those creeps right now, and she wouldn't even know it.

"I've got to warn Sam," Kai said as he dashed for the phone on the other side of the room.

However, before he could start dialing the number, his teacher stopped him. "No one is calling anyone," Sensei said. "Until we know what these young men are capable of, and what kind of technology they have, there will be no communication over the phone."

Kai glanced at his teacher before reluctantly setting the phone down. "Yes, Sensei."

"So, what do we do now?" Jay asked. "We can't exactly just walk on campus saying 'Oh, by the way, we think there is a dangerous gang on the loose that's planning to do something horrible on your campus.' I don't think that would go well."

"Well, the sooner we can find the threats, the better," Lloyd said.

"Jay's got a point, though," Cole said. "If people see us hanging around campus, they're gonna think something's up, and we can't afford to cause alarm."

"Then maybe we can find a way to blend in, somehow," Kai said. "Like, maybe, we can pretend to be students so we don't draw attention to ourselves."

"That is an interesting idea," Zane said. "It wouldn't alarm the students and faculty, but it also would not attract the attention of the attackers as well. There is a good chance that they are posing as students, if they are not already students at the university."

"That is a good point, Zane," Cole said. "And I've never been to college before."

"Zane does have a point," Sensei agreed. "I would be open to the idea of letting you five go on a mission such as this."

"Really?" Jay said. "If that's the case, I'm finally going to college, everyone! Woohoo!" he cheered. "Mom and Dad would be so proud!"

"But before we get ahead of ourselves…" Sensei warned, eyeing the blue ninja. "We must not forget the task at hand. Catching the criminals is the primary concern, not to engage in college-related activities. Understand, ninja?"

"Yes, Sensei," the ninja said, nodding respectfully at their teacher. However, Sensei could tell that his students were getting ideas, ones that may not have been directly related to the mission. But, knowing his pupils, he understood that the seed had been planted, and there was no going back.

"Very well. I will enroll you in classes this afternoon, and you will start tomorrow morning," Sensei said. "In the meantime, I would recommend packing for the week ahead."

"Yes, Sensei."

And with that, Sensei turned and began walking out of the room.

"Remember what you are there for, ninja," their teacher said. "And good luck."


	2. Chapter 2

"Okay, so what do you think our plan of attack should be?" Cole asked as he took a stack of CDs and put them on the desk of Jay's and his new dorm room.

The blue ninja shrugged. "I think our first big job is moving in. I mean, look at all this stuff," he said, motioning to the line of boxes on the floor. "And there's nowhere to put it!"

Cole couldn't help but roll his eyes at his teammate's dramatics. "Don't worry, we'll get it all sorted out eventually. Sensei said we should bring lots of stuff so we fit in."

Jay scoffed. "You mean like how we're not gonna fit in this room after we put away all our stuff. Like, seriously, how much did you pack?"

"Lighter than you," Cole retorted, glaring at his brother in the process. Out of the four other ninja, Cole didn't understand why Sensei had arranged for him to room with Jay.

"Well, I beg to differ," Jay argued, returning the glare. The blue ninja then went back to putting his stuff away.

The room was silent for only a minute or so before Jay started to talk again.

"You know what I don't get? How come on the news they only mentioned four guys, but six police weapons were stolen?"

Cole shrugged. "Extra ammo, maybe?"

"Or maybe there's more of them," Jay said, his eyes widening at the thought. "Maybe,it's an entire conspiracy, and we don't even know it!"

The earth ninja rolled his eyes once more. Jay sure was being extra paranoid these past couple of days.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Cole said calmly. "We'll wait till the other ninja get here, then we'll make a plan."

About half an hour later, the ninja heard a knock on their door.

"That must be the other three," Cole said, standing up to answer the door.

However, when he opened it, he only saw Kai and Zane standing in the doorway.

Cole looked over their shoulders and saw that Lloyd was not present. "Where's Lloyd?"

"Um, he's having a chat with his new roommate," Kai said, motioning upstairs where their green friend was staying.

Unfortunately, the ninja had an odd number, so Sensei had decided that Lloyd would best be suited to living with a stranger, since he also had some schooling experience as well.

Cole stepped aside and allowed Kai and Zane to enter.

As soon as Kai walked in and saw the newly-decorated room, he grinned. "Wow, this place is sick," he said, looking around.

Along one side of the room, which was clearly Jay's side, had a glass display case filled with comic books. Above the bed hung several styrofoam balls painted to look like planets. Not only that, posters of Fritz Donagon covered the walls, and a giant flat screen TV was proudly displayed in the center of the room, along with a couple of beanbag chairs to sit in.

Cole's side, while slightly more refined, was not lacking whatsoever. Unlike Jay, who had posters of Fritz Donagon covering his walls, Cole had posters of different rock bands plastered on his side. The desk was lined with trophies, ribbons and other awards from his dancing days, and above his bed hung a small discoball, which casted reflections across the room.

"It appears as though you put effort into decorating your room," Zane said, admiring the scenery. "Kai and I did not do very much at all."

"Yeah, our room's boring," Kai said. "We figured we'd only be staying a week, so we didn't put a lot of stuff up."

"Well, we figured this would be the only time we could say that we'd be in college," Cole explained. "So the least we could do is pretend like we were gonna be living here awhile."

"Hopefully not for long," a voice said. The ninja turned and saw Lloyd enter the room.

"Hey, Lloyd," Kai said. "How's the roommate situation?"

Lloyd shrugged as he closed the door behind him. "It's fine, I guess. Tyler's a nice guy, so I don't think there'll be any problems."

"That's good," the red ninja answered. "And now that you're here, we can talk strategy."

"Indeed," Zane said. "Where would be a good place to start?"

"I think we should start exploring the campus," Cole said. "If the bad guys are familiar with the campus, then we should be too."

"But Sensei said our main objective is to find them," Lloyd said. "We don't want to waste necessary time searching places where they wouldn't be."

"And we can't let them know we're here," Jay said. "We don't know what we're up against, so we should try to keep a low profile."

"Jay's right," Kai said. "Even if we find them, we shouldn't catch them right away. Not until we know what they're up to."

"It'd be easier if we knew what we were looking for," Cole said, sighing. "The girl on the news said the guys were wearing hoodies with backpacks. Look around. That could be anyone."

"Then look for any suspicious activity. If someone looks like they're hiding something, then there's a good chance they are," Lloyd said. "We will find these guys, and we will take them down, sooner or later."


	3. Chapter 3

"Um, are you sure this is the right place?" Cole asked as the ninja walked into the dining hall. "Because this looks a lot like a prison cafeteria."

Lloyd glanced down at the map in his hands. "Yep, this is the place."

Despite the others' confidence in being able to navigate around campus without a map, Lloyd had taken one anyways, which had proven to be useful after all.

Unfortunately, the map could not shorten the line that had formed in the dining hall and stretched almost outside the door, since the food building was so busy.

"Ugh, there's such a long line," Jay grumbled, trying to peer over the heads of students. "And I'm starving."

"Don't remind me," Cole muttered, rolling his eyes and folding his arms impatiently. His stomach was growling loudly in hunger, and he swore that if he didn't get sustenance fast, it would start feasting on itself.

"Well, you're in luck, 'cause it looks like it's moving fast," Kai said, motioning towards the front of the line, which did appear to be moving rather quickly.

"Does everyone have their IDs?" Lloyd asked. The rest of the team nodded.

Before they had left that morning, Sensei had told them that the dining halls and other buildings on campus required them to have a card of identification. Since then, the ninja had been holding onto them for dear life.

Finally, as if by some magical force, the line seemed to speed up, and one by one, the ninja swiped in at the desk, mouths watering at the smell of food in the air.

Cole breathed in the delicious aroma, growing hungrier by the minute. "Are those ribs I smell?" he asked, sniffing the air.

"Hmm, it appears today's special is grilled pork rib chops," Zane observed, reading the sign behind the front desk.

The earth ninja licked his lips. "Alright," he said. "I'm gonna get me three of those bad boys."

Kai studied his surroundings. While he was just as hungry as the others, he couldn't help but wish to see Sam. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a girl wearing her blond hair in a ponytail, but when she turned around, he saw that it wasn't her after all.

"Let's just make this quick," Kai said. "I don't want to be stuck in this crowded place all day."

To his relief, the ninja were finally able to get their food. Cole got his pork chop ribs, Jay and Kai got hamburgers. Lloyd got a slice of pepperoni pizza, and Zane, being the healthiest of the group, got chicken and a salad.

After a couple minutes of searching, the ninja found a table in the corner, and as soon as they sat down, began to dive into their meals.

"These ribs aren't half-bad," Cole said, his mouth full of the tender meat.

Kai nodded. "It's better than Kryptarium food, that's for sure," he said, taking a bite of his hamburger.

After a couple minutes of silence, the only sound being the sound of chewing, Lloyd spoke.

"I think we should split up to search the campus," the green ninja said. "We can cover more ground that way."

"Good idea," Cole said, taking another bite of his ribs. Lloyd couldn't tell if the earth ninja was actually paying attention to him or not.

"Good plan, Lloyd," Kai said, reassuring the younger ninja that his voice had been heard. Unlike the rest of the ninja, besides Cole maybe, Kai was especially motivated to take down the bad guys, for his girlfriend's safety.

"How should we split up then?" Jay asked, swallowing a mouthful of his hamburger.

Lloyd looked down at the map, which he had spread out on the table for everyone to see.

"Zane and I can check the bookstore. Jay, you can check the performing arts center," he said, pointing to a building towards the edge of campus. "Kai, you can check the science center, and Cole will check the field house. We can all meet up at the library later and report what we've found."

Everyone nodded in agreement, except for Jay, who was clearly unsure of the idea.

"But what if we don't find anything? Then what?" he asked.

"Then we'll start from square one," Lloyd answered, unfazed by Jay's lack of confidence. "But those are the largest buildings on campus, besides the dorms,so we're bound to find something."

"Then it's settled," Cole said, pushing his plate aside. "We'll go our separate ways and meet up later."

"Sounds like a plan," Kai said, nodding in approval.

"Alright, let's plan to meet up at the library at two," Lloyd said. "And don't be late."

* * *

Cole crinkled his nose in disgust. The second he had walked into the field house, he was instantly struck by the unpleasant stench of sweat, which made his eyes water.

 _Why do I always get the grungy places?_

Inside the field house, athletes of various sports were practicing. In the corner of the room, a group of jocks were playing basketball. Next to them was a group of soccer players, who were kicking a ball around, while in the middle of the room, a group of guys were playing tennis. Most importantly, the noisiest of the athletes were the football players, who were passing the football to each other, and shouting random things that Cole couldn't quite decipher, not that he cared.

Walking around, he saw that the field house was quite large, big enough to hold all of the different sports teams on campus if people wanted them to. Yet, so far, nothing was out of the ordinary. An occasional runner zoomed past him, causing his hair to blow in the breeze, which he had to keep fixing, but overall, the athletes were acting like how they were supposed to act, typically.

Therefore, the earth ninja slowly made his way around the field house, starting near the football players, then slowly making his way towards the basketball courts. Nothing special going on here, he thought, observing the basketball game that was ensuing amongst the athletes.

However, as soon as Cole looked away, he felt something strike him on the top of his head. He turned around to see that one of the guys had attempted a shot, but had sorely missed, causing the basketball to fly off the court and hit the earth ninja where he had been standing.

"I am so sorry, man," one of the athletes spoke up. He was on the tall side, with shaggy light brown hair and a lean frame. "I'm kinda clumsy."

Recovering from the initial shock of having a heavy weight being smashed against his head, Cole realized what had happened.

"It's alright, buddy," he said, picking the basketball off the ground, and tossing it to the player. The other athletes eyed the earth ninja curiously, making the earth ninja feel a bit uneasy.

"Hey, dude, do you wanna join us?" another guy asked, stepping forward, beside the first player.

The rest of the team watched Cole, waiting for an answer.

"Nah, man," the earth ninja said, shaking his head. "I was probably gonna head out soon." He couldn't tell them that the reason why he was here was because he was searching for a potentially dangerous criminal, who may or may not have been trying to take over the entire city.

"Come on, just one game," the guy with light brown hair urged. "You look like someone who plays a sport."

 _Yeah, if you call being a ninja a sport._

Pressured by the gazes of the other members of the team, and the competitive part of him wanting to test his abilities, the earth ninja finally caved.

"Okay, maybe just one game."


	4. Chapter 4

"Find anything, Zane?" Lloyd asked his teammate as he walked down an aisle of the bookstore. As planned, Lloyd had split up with Zane, and the two were almost done with their search at the bookstore, but they still had not found any clues as to who or what was planning on terrorizing Ninjago.

"Negative," the nindroid answered from the next aisle over. "It is quite peculiar that there appears to be no sign of our 'friends,' even though the tracker clearly indicated that they would be on this campus."

"It is strange," Lloyd mumbled to himself. It shouldn't be this hard to find four guys on seventy acres of land.

"Maybe they have moved to another location since we have arrived," Zane suggested.

"Hmm, maybe," the green ninja replied, brows furrowed in suspicion. Even though he had no logical basis for how he was feeling, he sensed that something was off, and it wasn't his pizza from lunch talking back to him.

"Possibly the others may have found something," the ninja of ice added.

"Hopefully. In the meantime, keep looking," Lloyd said. "There has to be a clue somewhere."

Jay walked into the performing arts center, not having the slightest idea of what he was supposed to be looking for. Lloyd had told them that they should be watching for any suspicious activity, but what if there was no one inside the building

When he went inside, all he saw were empty practice rooms at the end of the hallway. No one was in sight.

"Nothing here. Just a creepy building with no one in it," he muttered nervously, slowly making his way down the hall.

 _Why do I always get the creepy places?_

However, as he got closer to the practice rooms, he heard the faint sound of voices, coming from the left side of the hall.

The blue ninja turned the corner, and was greeted by a large wooden door.

Without thinking, he put his ear up against the door, and he discovered that it wasn't talking he had heard, but singing.

Although the sound was muffled, he could tell that it was several people, about ten or so maybe, large enough to be an ensemble.

His curiosity rising, he slowly opened the door. It made a small creaking sound, but not enough to draw anyone's attention. He peeked into the room, and saw a line of students up on stage, with a director standing up front, conducting.

He listened for a few seconds and realized that they were singing a pop song. This was a pop A Capella group!

Jay hadn't ever really done much singing, since Cole had more of the musical background. But it looked fun, and Jay, being the artsy type, was always willing to try something new.

His mind wandered, and he became so absorbed in his thoughts that he almost didn't hear a voice call out to him.

"Excuse me," a female voice said.

Jay's head snapped up, and his eyes were immediately met by the director's penetrating gaze.

At first, he assumed that he was in trouble.

"Ha, sorry ma'am," he chuckled nervously. "Just listening, hehe."

The woman didn't say anything at first, which made Jay feel extremely uncomfortable, having the director's as well as the students' eyes on him.

"Would like to join us?" the director asked.

Jay's eyes widened. "Me?" He wasn't sure if he had heard her correctly.

That's when he saw the corners of the director's mouth twitch slightly upwards. "Yes, you."

The blue ninja had been caught off guard, as if he was a deer in headlights.

"I-I really shouldn't," he stammered. "I don't wanna intrude or anything."

The director's eyes remained fixated on him.

"But...if you insist..." Jay happily opened the door wider and entered the room.


	5. Chapter 5

Kai lingered in front of the science center with his hands in his pockets, not knowing what else to do with himself. He had already done a quick walk-through of the place, in search of any clues for the potential threat. Unfortunately, he had come out empty-handed. Of course, his search may have not been as thorough as Lloyd would've liked. The fact that people were eyeing him curiously, and the fact that he had passed by a classroom that was in the middle of dissecting a cat kind of cut his search short. Not that he would admit it to anyone, but the very idea of cutting an animal open made his stomach feel a bit squeamish. Plus, the smell wasn't too great, either.

Therefore, he thought he'd just hang out a bit before he had to go to the library to meet up with the others at 2 o'clock.

"Ah, I sure hope the others found something," Kai said, pulling his hood up over his head. It was a warm day, but he wanted to put it up just to avoid the curious eyes of the other students that passed by. It might pose a problem if someone recognized him as one of the ninja; however, no one seemed to detect his presence. So far, so good.

* * *

Sam was walking back from her class, almost in a daze as she ran through a mental list of things she needed to get done for the week. She had a speech on Friday in Speech Communications, she had to finish a reading for her Political Science class, and she had a research paper to prepare for that was due in a couple weeks for her English class, all assigned on the first day of school.

She blew a strand of hair out of her face that had fallen out of her ponytail. As she did so, a figure out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. She turned her head and saw a student outside the science center, most likely male by the way he was dressed. He was wearing a red hoodie and dark-wash jeans, along with a pair of sneakers. His hood was up, but from underneath the hood she could tell he had brown hair; a few spiky pieces stuck out, which could've only meant one thing. It can't be... she thought, until he turned his head. The world seemed to stop as a pair of warm brown eyes met hers.

"Sam!" he called out as he ran up to her.

"Kai!" she answered.

Right in the middle of the sidewalk, Kai wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug, inhaling the familiar strawberry scent of her hair. "How are you?" he asked excitedly, pulling away to look at her. "Haven't seen you since last week."

"Pretty good," Sam said, smiling. "It's only been a couple days, but I think I'll like this year." She then noticed he was wearing a backpack. "I didn't know you're going here." The very idea of the red ninja going to the same college as her made her heart flutter in excitement. She knew it was too good to be true, though.

Kai leaned in a bit closer to her ear, automatically rousing a pink tinge in her cheeks.

"Cause I'm not," he said, quietly so no one nearby would hear him.

"Well, technically I am, but not for long, until we can find the student." The blonde's eyebrows knit in confusion.

"Find the wha-?"

"I'll explain on the way," he said softly, before taking her hand and motioning for her to follow. "Let's go to the library and talk."


	6. Chapter 6

"You mean someone is threatening to take over Ninjago, from our school?!" Sam asked Kai, as the red ninja relayed the tale of what had ensued yesterday morning.

Fortunately, the library was not very busy, so the couple had found a private place to talk on the lower level of the library, where there was a small seating area.

"We don't know for sure. All we know is that some guys attacked Jamanakai Village yesterday, and police weapons were stolen just a couple hours afterwards. That can't be a coincidence."

"I guess it's possible," Sam concluded. "But why would they pick such a small college? Ninjago University isn't exactly a big place."

Kai shrugged. "I don't know, but be on guard. I don't want anything bad to happen to you, Sam," he said, gazing into a pool of soft blue eyes. "I just don't know what I'd do without you."

"Same here, Kai," she softly replied.

He reached over the chair he was sitting in next to her and gently cupped her face in his hand, tenderly stroking her cheek with his thumb. But he realized, however, that no matter how many kisses he wanted to steal from her, the library wasn't the place to do it.

He gently cleared his throat. "So," he said, retracting his hand from her, "Are you liking your second year so far?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah, I have a lot of work, though. I have three assignments. One is a speech that's due Friday."

At the mention of a speech, Kai made a funny face, causing Sam to giggle.

"Ugh, I hate speeches," the red ninja muttered. "Public speaking in general scares me. I can only do it if I'm speaking from my heart," he added, remembering the memorial ceremony for Zane when they thought they had lost him forever.

"Me too," Sam said, a look of concern flickering over her features. "I mean, they're not as scary as some people make them out to be, but I still don't like them."

"I'm sure you'll do great, Sam. You always do great things," Kai said. "You can practice with me if you want."

The blonde smiled. "Really?"

"Yeah, as boring as it'll probably be," he answered, playfully rolling his eyes in the process. "I guess I could listen to it."

"Hey," she laughed, lightly punching him in the shoulder.

Kai pretended to be hurt. "Ow!" he exclaimed, smiling as he rubbed his shoulder.

Sam laughed. "Well, Kai, despite the circumstance, I'm glad you came to campus," she said. "I miss you guys."

"I'm glad, too," Kai said. "Of course it isn't ideal, trying to track down these crazy madmen at the same time," he chuckled. "But I'm glad I got to see you."

"Same."

Suddenly, the couple heard a parade of footsteps coming down the stairs.

"I think he's down here," a voice said.

Kai and Sam exchanged amused glances, knowing who those footsteps probably belonged to.

"Guess it's two o'clock already," Kai muttered under his breath.

Sure enough, the first person to come down the stairs was Jay, followed by Cole, Lloyd, and Zane.

Upon seeing the blonde next to Kai, Jay smiled.

"Sam!" he exclaimed. "It's so great to see you!"

He rushed over to her and gave her a hug.

"I missed you guys!" Sam said.

"Hey, what's with all the commotion?" a husky voice said, belonging to none other than Cole, whose face lit up in surprise when he saw the blonde.

"Hey, Sam," he said, giving her a friendly hug.

"Hey, Cole," she answered, returning the hug.

Next was Lloyd, whose face was nothing short of shock when he saw their former houseguest.

"Oh, look, it's Sam," the green ninja said. More awkward than the others, he slowly approached her and gave her a hesitant, yet meaningful hug. He still felt kind of bad about what happened this past summer, and he couldn't deny that he still harbored some feelings for the blue-eyed beauty.

"It is good to see you," Zane said, also giving Sam a hug.

"We couldn't find anything at the bookstore," Lloyd said, returning to the matter at hand. "How 'bout you, Kai?"

Kai shook his head. "Nope," the red ninja answered. "Just a bunch of dead cats."

Lloyd frowned in disgust, while a look of horror crossed Cole's face, causing everyone else to chuckle.

"What about you guys?" Kai said, recovering from the laughter.

"No," Cole said. "But I played a pretty good game of basketball."

"And I sang in a choir," Jay declared proudly. "An A Capella choir."

The red ninja tilted his head curiously. Lloyd noticed his teammate's confused expression.

"Yeah, while Zane and I were at the bookstore, we found out these two were goofing off," Lloyd joked halfheartedly. "Did you tell Sam what we've been doing?"

Kai nodded. "Yep, now she knows as much as we do, which is absolutely nothing."

"I just can't believe they'd be here with no signs of being here," Jay said. "There's gotta be something we can go off of."

"Yeah, I mean, they have every student's name on record," Cole said. "If we knew who we were looking for, we could just sneak a peek into the school's files. Zane could surely help us with that."

"Indeed," Zane agreed. "But like Cole said, if we cannot identify who the perpetrator is, then he will remain anonymous until we are given a name."

"Maybe there's something we can look into, like clubs, or other activities," Kai suggested.

Lloyd's face suddenly lit up. "Library books!" he exclaimed. "Maybe we can find a name in the library books. Zane, can you hack into the library's database, and see what books people have checked our recently?"

Zane thought for a moment. "I suppose I could," he said. "We would just need a computer."

"There's an entire computer lab down the hall," Sam piped up. While she technically wasn't a member of the team, she wanted to be helpful.

"Let's go then," Lloyd said, authority returning to his voice. "We don't have time to lose."

"The safety of the students and Ninjago depends on us," Kai added.


	7. Chapter 7

"So, what exactly is a library book gonna tell us?" Jay asked.

The ninja and Sam were hunched behind Zane as he hacked the library's database, and was scrolling through the list of books that had been checked out.

"Anything that's suspicious," Lloyd answered, though deep down, he wasn't completely sure what they were supposed to be looking for exactly.

Zane carefully studied the screen.

"So far, nothing seems to be out of the ordinary," he said. "The books appear to be dated from newest to oldest in terms of time of checkout."

"Is there any way you can narrow it down?" Cole asked. Like the others, he didn't want to spend the rest of his day searching through library books.

"I can narrow it down to this month only," the nindroid replied. "Perhaps that will make things easier."

The team watched as their robotic friend clicked a few buttons and began scrolling through the list one more.

Lloyd narrowed his eyes as he looked over his teammate's shoulder at the computer screen. He was convinced that there had to be something that would point them in right direction.

They were almost nearing the end of the list when a certain title caught the green ninja's attention.

"Wait, stop right there!" he exclaimed.

Zane immediately stopped scrolling upon guessing what his brother was looking at.

"Hmm, that is peculiar," he observed, studying the title.

The others leaned in, hoping to get a better view of the screen.

Being the closest, next to Lloyd, Cole was able to make out the title.

"Magic and Mayhem: Secrets of the Cursed Realm," he read aloud, tilting his head in confusion. "I didn't know they had books on this stuff."

"Ninjago's Greatest Mysteries: History of the Cursed Realm, " Kai said, reading the title of the book currently under the previous one. "This was checked out just a day before the other one."

Jay squinted at the titles. "Why would anyone want these?" he asked. "I'm no expert, but I doubt very few college kids would find this old legend stuff interesting."

"It does appear to be for leisure," Zane remarked. "I do not believe that there are classes that would require such a reading."

"Then that should be our first clue," Lloyd said. "Who checked them out?"

Zane frowned. "It appears a male by the name of Victor Rathburn checked out the first one, and another by the name of José Gonzales checked out the second one. The books were checked out about two weeks ago."

"Then let's find them," Lloyd said. "If they're still on campus, we need to hunt them down before they go missing. Two weeks is a lot of time, and they could be anywhere, doing anything, with the amount of time that's passed."

The rest of the team nodded.

"I could look into their names further if it would help," Zane suggested. "Since their appearances as well as their whereabouts are unknown as of this moment."

"Good idea, Zane," Cole said. "It's the only lead we've got, so we wanna make sure those are our guys."

"We know they go to the library, so there's no doubt they'll be back for some more books," Kai said. "Maybe someone could stay here and keep us posted."

"Sounds like a plan," Cole agreed. "Who's doing the first shift, 'cause I call 'not it.'"

"Anything's fine except for night shifts," Jay said. "I need my beauty rest."

Kai and Cole exchanged amused expressions at Jay's remark.

"Then it's settled," Lloyd said. "I'll take the night shift."

"And I can do evenings," Kai volunteered.

"I can do mornings," Cole said. "But I have to be done by 8am since I have a class I gotta go to."

"What class is that?" Sam asked, curious.

The earth ninja gave her a look. "Speech," he mumbled, clearly not thrilled by the class his Sensei had chosen for him.

"Don't worry, Cole, I can take over from there," Zane said. The nindroid's eyes suddenly lit up. "Though it just occurred to me that I have a class at eleven."

"And what class is that?" Kai asked.

"Calculus," Zane answered.

Kai's eyes widened. "That's what I have, too!"

"You're taking Calc, Kai?" Jay snorted. "You can't even do basic math. May I remind you how many times you've miscounted us?"

The red ninja glared at his teammate. "Shut it, Jay."

"Well, if you girls are done chattering," Cole said, eyeing the two best friends, "I say we reconvene at dinner, then Lloyd can take the first night shift. Agreed?"

"Agreed," Jay echoed, ignoring his,teammate's previous comment. "I guess I'll do afternoon then."

"Then let's meet up for dinner," Lloyd said, finalizing the plan. He then turn to Sam. "You're welcome to join us if you want, Sam."

Considering her history with the ninja, and the fact that she had been living on their ship for four whole months practically, it was safe to assume that she was a more-than-welcomed guest.

Sam smiled. "Sure," she said. "I'd love to."

She turned to Kai, who flashed her a warm smile.

"So, what should we do in the meantime?" Cole asked.

Kai turned to Sam. "Wanna take a walk?" he asked. "Maybe you can show me your speech."

"Yeah, that sounds fun," Sam agreed, giving the red ninja an enthusiastic nod.

"Well, I have to get unpacking," Lloyd said, smoothing his shirt. "We met up so fast that I wasn't able to put away anything."

"And we brought an XBOX that's not gonna play itself," Cole said, glancing at Jay.

The blue ninja grinned. "Yeah, and I'm so gonna kick your butt, Cole!" Jay exclaimed. He then turned to his white-clad teammate. "You're welcome to join us, Zane, if you want."

The nindroid smiled. "It will be a challenge I will gratefully accept."

"Alright, let's plan to meet up at six for dinner at the dining hall," Lloyd said. "Then we can start our lookout for our two suspects."


	8. Chapter 8

Lloyd stood in his dorm, busily unpacking boxes from this morning, wanting to set up his room before he went to the library later that evening.

His roommate, Tyler, was sitting on the edge of his bed, listening to music and just chilling out, oblivious to what the platinum-haired boy was doing.

Lloyd opened another box and began rummaging through the various things in it. He didn't pack too much of his own things, for he owned very little. However, Sensei had arranged for all of them to purchase a week's worth of clothing, since they wore was their gis most of the time.

The first thing Lloyd took out was his comic books, which he thoroughly enjoyed reading. Fritz Donagon was his favorite comic book character. And while he may have been getting too old for such childish things, he wasn't ashamed of his collection.

The green ninja then took out his food items, which mainly consisted of chips and soda as well as a few pieces of candy. Even though he was older, he hadn't completely abandoned his sweet tooth.

Once he was done with that box, he opened the next one, which had only two things that he could proudly say he owned his boom box and his retractable fishing poles.

Tyler glanced up from his phone to see what his roommate was doing when he noticed the fishing poles.

"Hey."

Hearing his roommate's voice, Lloyd spun around.

"You fish?" Tyler asked.

After processing what his roommate was asking, green ninja rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Yeah, sometimes," Lloyd said. "I used to go with my father-" He was about to continue when a surge of memories hit him, causing his heart to sink. Even though it had been a year practically since his father had been sent to the Cursed Realm, Lloyd still harbored some sadness for the loss of his dad.

Tyler noticed him pause, and decided he wasn't going to pry. Out of shyness, he returned to listening to his music.

Lloyd thought it would be a good time to start to get to know his roommate, since he hadn't had the chance to earlier that morning.

"Where are you from?" the green ninja asked, trying to strike up conversation.

Tyler glanced up from his phone again and saw that Lloyd was speaking to him.

"Oh, uh, I'm from Ojiro Village," the boy said. "It's not too far from here, it's just outside the city."

Lloyd nodded. He had heard of that village before.

"Where are you from?" Tyler asked, being polite.

Lloyd's eyes widened, realizing that he didn't come from any specific place that he knew of.

"Uh, I've been here and there," he chuckled nervously. "I went to Darkly's Boarding School for most of my life."

Tyler tilted his head curiously, recognizing the name.

"Darkly's, huh?" he said. "Isn't that, like, a school for bad kids?"

"Y-yeah," he stuttered. "But it's not like that anymore. My mom sent me there 'cause...it was close to where she worked."

Tyler nodded in understanding.

"I was gonna say, you don't seem like the bad type," he said. "'Cause only people who have trouble in school go there, right?"

The green ninja blinked in confusion. Clearly his roommate wasn't aware of the true intent of the school.

"Uh, yeah, yeah," he answered, nodding his head forcefully.

Tyler nodded. "Cool, cool."

There was a minute of silence before the boy spoke again.

"So, do you play any sports?" he asked.

"Uh…" Lloyd trailed off. Technically, being a ninja was some kind of sport, but he couldn't reveal that to Tyler.

"...No," the green ninja said, shaking his head. "You?"

His roommate nodded. "Yep, I play baseball," he said. "It's pretty fun. You should try out for the team."

"Who? Me?" Lloyd asked in surprise. "Ah...I don't think I'd be very good at it."

Tyler shrugged. "You get the hang of it," he said. "It's not the hardest sport to play. I'm horrible at football, so."

Lloyd chuckled. "Yeah, that's not a sport I'd wanna play," he said. "My friend Cole, though-he'd be very good at it."

"Does he go here?" Tyler asked.

Lloyd nodded. "Yeah, him and my three other friends go here too."

"That's cool," Tyler said. "You're lucky to have people here you know already."

"Yeah, but they can get on my nerves sometimes," the green ninja said, smiling at the thought of his teammates.

"Yeah, my friends do too," Tyler said. "But I still hang out with them anyways."

"Yeah, can't live with them. Can't live without them," Lloyd chuckled.

Tyler chuckled as well. "For sure."

After the laughter died down, Tyler looked at Lloyd.

"So, what classes are you taking?" he asked.

The green ninja thought for a moment.

"I'm taking history, finite math, and English," he answered.

"Ha, I have finite math too," Tyler said. "I heard it's super easy, so I'm not too worried about it."

"Me neither," Lloyd said, though, to be honest he had never taken a math course before, so he was a little unsure about it.

"Hey, if you ever need someone to do homework with, I'll be here," Tyler said. "I go to bed like at midnight since I don't have any 8ams."

"I don't either," Lloyd said. "I'm probably gonna head out to the library after dinner to prepare for classes tomorrow."

Tyler nodded. "The library usually closes at midnight, so you got plenty of time," he said.

"Ha, yeah," Lloyd laughed nervously.

Little did his roommate know exactly what he was going to be doing at the library later that night.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hi everyone! Hope you all are enjoying the story. I'm still updating The Fire Within, so be on the lookout for that. As always, don't forget to R R. It really makes my day! :D**

The dining hall was busy with dinner traffic as the ninja entered the building.

Kai had gathered up the team, first Lloyd and then Jay, Cole, and Zane, who were very engrossed in their video game.

After their walk earlier, Sam had told Kai that she and Brooke would meet the ninja there, which Kai thought would be a good surprise for Cole.

Therefore, after the ninja slowly got their food and found a table big enough for everyone, Kai looked around, waiting for the girls to arrive. This did not go unnoticed by Jay, who found the ninja's constant looking around amusing.

"Relax, Sam'll be here, Kai," he said. "Sometimes I think you're the tiniest bit obsessive."

Cole scoffed. "You're one to talk, Jay," the earth ninja said.

"Yeah, Jay," Kai said, narrowing his eyes at his teammate. "Two words: My sister."

The blue ninja waved his arms in surrender. "Okay, okay, I get it," he said. "But that's completely different."

Both Kai and Cole rolled their eyes at their teammate's remark while Zane looked thoughtful.

"It is my understanding that it easy to get wrapped up in someone if you truly have feelings for them," Zane said. "And Kai appears to have these feelings constantly."

Cole and Jay exchanged amused expressions, noticing Kai's face turn a light shade of red.

"Thank you, Zane," he muttered, rolling his eyes at the white ninja before shooting his blue and black teammates a glare.

Lloyd remained silent, not able to add any sort of dialogue to the lighthearted conversation. He didn't know what it was like to have a significant other, as Jay had Nya, Zane had Pixal, Kai had Sam, and inevitably Cole would have Brooke. Though it didn't cross his mind often, it seemed like there was no one for him.

"Speaking of girlfriends," Kai said, smirking at Cole, "Sam invited Brooke to eat with us too, just to let you know."

Cole immediately straightened in his seat upon hearing the brunette's name.

"Brooke?" he repeated. "Haven't seen her in a while." The last time he had seen her was the previous summer, when she had visited the Bounty during that "interesting" time, when Lloyd was dating Sam. He remembered consoling her on the ship's deck on that clear, starry night, when they had just sat and talked. He wondered if she ever thought of that night, as often as it crossed his mind.

"Well, now you get to talk to her again," Kai said, mischief twinkling in his brown eyes.

"So be on your best behavior," Jay teased, lightly jabbing the earth ninja in the ribs.

Cole rolled her eyes, pretending to be annoyed by his teammate's antics, but at the moment, he was filled with nervous excitement, wondering if the brunette looked just as lovely as she had that night.

Oh man, what was he gonna say to her?

The earth ninja didn't have time to think about it for long. A couple minutes after the teasing had started, Sam entered the dining room, with Brooke right behind her.

"Hey, Sam," Kai greeted his girlfriend. He quickly scooted closer to Jay to make room for Sam and Brooke in the rounded booth.

"Hey guys," Sam said, taking a seat. "Look who I brought."

Everyone's attention turned towards Brooke, who greeted the ninja with enthusiasm.

"Hey everyone," Brooke said, taking a seat next to Sam.

"Hey, Brooke," Cole said. "We missed you."

The earth ninja couldn't take his eyes off the college student, whose long brown hair flowed down her back like a soft curtain draped over her shoulders. She was beautiful, enough to make his mouth go dry.

Brooke met the earth ninja's gaze and gave him a small smile. "I missed you guys, too," she said, keeping her eyes on Cole.

The earth ninja could feel himself blushing, so he quickly returned to eating to distract himself, hoping she didn't notice he was embarrassed.

"So how've you been, Brooke?" Jay asked.

"Pretty good!" Brooke said. "All of my classes are super easy, and my schedule is awesome. All my classes are done by noon."

"Lucky you," Cole said, his mouth full of food. "What are you planning to do with all that free time?"

"Homework, probably," she answered. "And maybe a little shopping." Brooke could never resist a trip to the mall.

"I told Brooke about what you guys are doing," Sam said.

"Yeah," the brunette said, her eyes widening. "Is it true?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Kai answered. "Which is why we need to keep a low profile."

"And keep you girls safe," Cole added.

"Aw, that's sweet of you," Brooke said, flashing the earth ninja an appreciative smile. Cole grinned, knowing he had impressed her.

"Just be aware of your surroundings," Lloyd said, motioning towards the girls. "We now know that these guys are registered as students, so they are walking among us, so just be careful."

"Lloyd is right," Zane said. "I would recommend not taking any unnecessary risks."

"We need to stick together at all times," Kai said. "Always travel with a partner."

"I just can't believe this is actually happening," Brooke said. "What are the chances that this kind of thing would happen at our school?"

"Well, for starters, it's a small school," Cole said. "The police wouldn't think of coming here."

"True," Zane said. "But perhaps there is some other reason as to why they chose this particular location."

"Yeah, but we don't even know what they're up to," Jay said, waving his fork around. "All we know is that they're obsessed with the magic-type stuff, more specifically, the Cursed Realm."

Brooke made a face. "The Cursed Realm?" she repeated. "What is that?"

"It's a place where criminals get sent to if they've done something that's horrible enough," Kai explained.

"Hey, not everyone," Lloyd said, defending his father.

Everyone knew Lloyd, while much better than he was a year ago, no longer mourning, still regretted the loss of his father.

"So what've you guys been up to?" Brooke asked, changing the subject. "Is everything okay in paradise?" she said, turning to Sam, whose face resembled a tomato at the brunette's remark.

"Y-yeah," she stuttered, avoiding Kai's gaze, whose face was also slightly red.

The rest of the group chuckled, including Lloyd, though his laughter may have been perceived as forced by some.

"Anyways, back to the matter at hand," Cole said, wanting to cut his friend a little slack, "We need to keep all this a secret."

Brooke nodded, knowing his comment was directed at her. "Of course!"

"Now that we got that out of the way," the earth ninja said, "Tell us about you. What've you been up to."

"Well, as you know, I moved in with Sammie just a few days ago. After I visited you guys last summer, I went back home and continued working until the first week of September," she explained.

"Did you get any cool CDs?" Cole asked. He knew that at the clothing store where she worked, they played soft rock a lot, which was both of their favorite type of music.

"Yeah, a few! You're welcome to borrow them and give 'em a listen. Hey, maybe you can come over and we can just hang out?" she suggested. "I know you guys are busy, but everyone needs a break."

"Well said," he answered. "And I might just take you up on that."

She gave him a small wink, making his heart skip a beat. He hadn't known her for very long, but he was practically wrapped around her finger.

After a few more minutes of small talk and casual conversation, Lloyd stood up from his seat.

"I guess I better be heading out now," he said.

"Where you going?" Brooke asked curiously.

"The library," Cole answered for the green ninja. "We think that the criminals will appear at the library, so we've assigned shifts to be on the lookout for them."

"And you make poor Lloyd do the night shift, all by himself?!" she exclaimed, giving the earth ninja a halfhearted glare.

Lloyd chuckled. "It's okay Brooke," he said, amused by the brunette's antics. "I can take care of myself. I am the green ninja after all."

Though, deep down, he was glad someone was thinking about him.

"See you, guys," Lloyd said, giving them a small wave as he left.

"See you, Lloyd."

After the green ninja left, Kai turned to the girls.

"So what will you ladies be doing this evening?" Kai asked, a hint of playfulness in his voice.

Sam sighed. "Homework," she said. "I still have to finish my book for history."

"Same, I'm probably gonna head to the café to work on stuff," Brooke said.

Cole suddenly appeared flustered. "Uh, I can go with you if you want," the earth ninja said. "Someone needs to make sure you get there okay."

"And Sam, do you wanna work on stuff in my room?" Kai asked. "I promise I'll be quiet."

Sam laughed, a faint blush creeping across her cheeks at the thought of being in her boyfriend's dorm room at night.

"Sure," she said. "As long as you behave, I don't think there'll be any problems."

The red ninja smiled, then turned to Jay. "What are you gonna do tonight?" he asked, wondering what plans his best friend had in store for the evening.

"Eh, I'll probably just play video games," the blue ninja answered. "And hang out with Zane, maybe."

The white ninja nodded. "Of course, we can hang out, Jay. I was thinking I would do some research on how to behave like a college student before class tomorrow," the nindroid said. "That way, we will be sure that we blend in."

"Ah, I already know how to act like a college student," Kai said, folding his arms behind his head as he leaned back in the booth. "Just pretend you don't care about anything."

"Uh, I don't think you have to pretend," Jay teased. "Except for Sam, of course."

"You're treading dangerous water there, buddy," Cole said, playfully narrowing his eyes at the red ninja.

Kai realized what he had said, and draped his arm across Sam's shoulder.

"Well, I care about some things," he said, smiling at his girlfriend. "Things that are important, like my friends."

"And are we considered your friends in this context, Kai?" Zane asked with a small smirk, entertained by his brother's antics.

The red ninja rolled his eyes. His teammates had a way of killing the mood sometimes.

"Yes, you're all included," he grumbled, though he had trouble concealing the smile that threatened to spread across his face. Truthfully, he was glad to have such good friends.

Sensing the conversation had come to a close, Cole turned to Brooke.

"Ready to go?" he asked.

Brooke slid out of the booth, followed by Sam, who turned to Kai once they were all standing.

"I just need to grab my homework from the dorm," Sam said.

The red ninja nodded, and the four ninja and the girls left the dining hall.

Kai and Cole accompanied Sam and Brooke back to their dorm so they could get their homework before the couples went their separate ways.


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey everyone! Hope you all are still enjoying the story! I'm reassuring you all that I'm still working on The Fire Within, so expect a new chapter in the next week or so.**

 **Just a reminder, this chapter is more "mature" than what I'm used to writing. Also, in this story, Kai and Sam are farther along in their relationship, so they are going to be more affectionate, just in case some of you were wondering. I imagine this story takes place a couple months after The Fire Within, since Sam is just starting her sophomore year and in The Fire Within, she is still a freshman. So, yeah. And there will be a few surprises along the way in this story, so stay tuned!**

Sam sat on the floor of Kai and Zane's dorm, intensely focused on her reading for political science.

Zane had left the dorm room to hang out with Jay down the hall, since Sam was busy and he didn't want to be an additional distraction. Plus, he sensed that he would be an obstruction to Kai and Sam spending some alone time together, and he didn't want to rain on the couple's parade.

Since Sam and Kai had arrived, though, it had been fairly quiet.

The college sophomore had been busily reading her book while Kai laid on his bed with his arms tucked behind his head, lost in thought as he stared up at the ceiling. While the reason the ninja were at the college was an ominous one, Kai felt very relaxed at the moment.

He ever so slightly tilted his head to see what Sam was doing on the ground. Her golden blonde hair was gathered up in a ponytail, and her face was twisted in deep concentration as her eyes moved back and forth from line to line.

"Having fun?" he asked.

Sam glanced up from her reading and realized that Kai had been speaking to her.

"No," she chuckled. "But I'm halfway done."

"That's good," the red ninja answered, smiling.

He wondered what his classes would be like tomorrow. He had never gone to school, so surely it would be a new experience for him.

"Are your classes easy?" he asked. He hated disrupting her, but he was curious.

"More or less," Sam answered. "I have a heavy workload, but I am taking more than one 200 level class."

"Mm, gotcha," Kai said, nodding in understanding. He wasn't familiar with levels of classes, but he assumed that he wasn't enrolled in a higher-level course.

The room was silent for a few more minutes before Kai heard the sound of a book slam shut.

"I think I need a break," Sam said, blowing a strand of hair out of her face.

"Breaks are always good," Kai said, sitting up from his lying position on the bed. The red ninja then patted the seat next to him, motioning for her to sit next to him.

"Come sit down," he said. "I can't imagine sitting on the floor for so long - well, maybe I can 'cause of Sensei," he chuckled. "But you don't need to be uncomfortable."

Sam tucked the loose strand of of hair that she had blown out of her face behind her ear and carefully took a seat next to Kai.

Unfortunately, she had overestimated the distance between them while sitting down, and her leg accidentally brushed his.

"Erm, sorry," she said, a hot blush forming across her cheeks.

Kai chuckled. "You don't have to apologize Sam, it's just me," he reassured her, lovingly wrapping an arm around his girlfriend.

She breathed in the musky scent of Grey Kin cologne. Jay had finally persuaded Kai to get his own bottle of cologne, which suited the red ninja nicely, in Sam's opinion at least.

With his arm draped across her shoulders, Kai's hand began to lightly rub her upper arm.

He was no doubt unaware that he was doing it, but it was hard to ignore the sensation of his warm hands against her skin.

"You doing okay, Sam?" Kai asked, freeing her from her sweet torture of thoughts.

"Yeah," she breathed, realizing that she had been holding it for a good ten seconds now. She guessed that he had asked because he had seen her expression, which had probably looked pained. Little did he know that she had felt the exact opposite.

"Just makin' sure," he said, purposefully giving her shoulder a squeeze. "I know how much you push yourself."

The red ninja was well aware that Sam was a very goal-oriented person, especially in her academic career. Her dream was to be the CEO of Borg Industries, which was quite a tall order, considering it was one of the most, if not the most, successful company in all of Ninjago.

"I know I tend to push myself," she sighed. "But I know it'll all pay off in the long run."

"Sure it will," Kai said. "You're a smart, girl, Sam. I know you'll get there."

The blonde smiled at her boyfriend's words of encouragement.

"Thanks, Kai," she said. No matter the circumstance, he always seemed to know the right thing to say.

The red ninja returned the smile. "Hey, that's what friends do, right?"

His gaze held hers, and Sam could practically feel herself melting into the ninja's captivating, soft brown eyes.

"I…" she began, but she couldn't seem to find the right words to express how grateful she was to have an honorable young man such as him, who would simply accept her for her, unconditionally, unlike some who she had fallen for in the past. A certain blond boy, other than Lloyd, immediately crossed her mind.

She didn't have to think about Jake for long, however.

Before she could process what was happening, a set of lips were softly pressed against hers.

Kai leaned forward, wanting to capture as many kisses as he could. He was feeling especially greedy, after being separated from her for so long.

Sam's eyes fluttered closed, willingly accepting his fiery tokens of affection.

They hadn't had an exchange like this since they had made up after their minor disagreement that past summer, when Kai had purposefully distanced himself from her, and Lloyd had entered the picture for a short period of time.

"I love you," Kai mumbled against her lips, wanting so badly for her to know just how much he meant it.

"Kai -" was all she managed to get out before she was swept away on a wave of passion, so intense that all the outside burdens she carried seemed to fade away almost instantly. All that mattered was Kai.

Her back was gently guided onto the cool sheets of his bed, his lips never leaving hers.

His hands grew more restless with each passing moment she was under him. He kept reminding himself not to be too careless, for they both were fairly new to this kind of intensity, and he didn't want to upset her.

However, in the heat of the moment, Kai's hesitancy seemed to vanish when he physically became aware that she was completely absorbed in his actions.

His lips grazed the side of her neck, and he heard her emit a soft moan, only fueling his desire for her. A desire that he had suppressed since that one night on the Bounty. A desire which now had been awakened by pure, feverish instinct.

No longer controlled by logic, his once idle hands, never close enough to his beloved Sam, slipped under her shirt, brushing over her smooth bare skin.

However, the foreign contact seemed to awaken Sam from her state of bliss. She realized what was happening, and her face flushed crimson. This was going too far, too fast.

"Kai," she whimpered, squirming from under him.

It took a moment for the red ninja to process her plea to stop, but as soon as he realized what was going on, the kissing ceased, and his hands immediately drew back from her body.

"Sam, I'm so sorry!" he exclaimed. His mind was still a bit foggy, but it was clear enough to realize where this had been leading.

He helped her sit up, and from the short distance away from him, she could see his pupils were still dilated from the burst of emotion.

"If I had known this would've happened…" he began, but Sam silenced him.

"It's not your fault, Kai," she said. While she knew it wasn't the right time, it was hard to forget the feeling of being pressed against his firm body. His touch had been so pleasurable; her face burned just imagining what it would've been like if they hadn't stopped.

"Guess we both got caught up," Kai chuckled nervously, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. In all honesty, he was embarrassed about not being able to keep his reason in check. His job was to protect her, not to put her future at risk.

Sam could sense that Kai wasn't particularly pleased with himself, which made her feel even more guilty about the exchange.

She probably shouldn't have been alone with him in the boy's dorm anyways, but as in love with Kai as she was, it was hard to resist him at times.

"Why don't we go see what Jay and Zane are up to?" he suggested, agitatedly running a hand through his spiky brown hair. Anything to distract himself.

Sam nodded wordlessly, grateful for the change in pace. She gathered her things, and the two made their way to Jay and Cole's room.


	11. Chapter 11

Brooke sat at one of the small tables in Ninjago University's coffee cafe, bending over to one side to retrieve a textbook and a highlighter from her backpack on the floor. She straightened up just as Cole arrived at the table with two hot beverages.

"Your latte," he said, checking the label on the side to verify its contents before setting it down on the table in front of her. "My treat."

Brooke took her beverage and cradled it in her two hands. "Aw, thanks Cole, that's so sweet of you!"

"Ah, don't mention it," he replied, waving his hand as if to ward off any more of her attempts at gratitude.

Brooke smiled at the earth ninja. "Well, next time _I'll_ be the one who's treating _you_."

"If you insist," Cole chuckled. He was secretly pleased that Brooke had just used the words "next time." It meant that the brunette was willing to spend more time with him. "I just thought I'd get a plain coffee tonight. Gonna be needing it from now on."

Brooke took a small sip of her drink. "Still a bit too hot yet," she said to herself, putting the drink down before looking at Cole again. "Yeah, pretty soon I expect they'll be serving pumpkin spice lattes. Those are good, too."

"I'd try one of those," the black-haired young man nodded. "So, what book is that class for?" he asked, indicating the textbook she had placed on the table.

"Business Law 101," she answered as she opened it and began leafing through it. "We're supposed to read Chapters Three and Four by tomorrow and I still have to get Four done. I'm guessing by the book you brought that you're taking Speech 100," she said, motioning towards the large blue book lying on the table, in front of the earth ninja.

"Yeah," Cole sighed, glancing down at his own textbook, titled 'Elements of Speech'. "Speaking in front of people is not my thing. I mean, I've sung and danced on stage in front of people before, but I feel like singing and dancing is different because you've memorized the song or the routine before you even get in front of anyone-"

"You dance?"

Cole didn't know why that was significant to her, so he shrugged. "I haven't danced in a while, but I know how to."

"What sort of dancing have you done?" Brooke plopped her elbows on the table and rested her chin on her hands as she awaited his answer with great interest.

The earth ninja felt himself blushing as he looked up in thought. "Uh, I've done tap. And a little jazz. And I know dances like the waltz and and that sort of stuff."

"So you could do like the couples dancing that they show on the TV, or maybe like in the old musical films?" the brunette asked.

"I'd say so," Cole nodded. "Maybe not as good as the professionals, 'cause they do it all the time, but I could do similar routines pretty well."

Brooke's hazel eyes lit up. "Could you teach me how to dance?"

Cole swallowed nervously. He could learn dance moves, but he didn't know how well he could teach them. In addition, teaching Brooke how to dance meant enduring a lot of awkwardness, for he would be doing a lot of touching and holding of the brunette, who he found to be quite attractive.

But there she was, eagerly awaiting his affirmative answer, and he didn't want to disappoint her.

"Sure," he smiled, trying to act nonchalant while his heart was pounding. "Maybe we could meet a couple times a week, or something like that. I could have you come to the Bounty maybe, after we catch the bad guys, and I could teach you."

"Oh, cool!" Brooke grinned broadly. "I can't wait! Thanks, Cole!" She reached over and gave his forearm a squeeze before resuming leafing through her textbook to find Chapter Four. The warmth of her touch resonated with him.

Brooke found the appropriate page of her business law book and uncapped her highlighter pen, ready to mark important passages. Looking over at Cole, she noticed his speech textbook remained closed. "Do you wanna borrow a highlighter?" she asked.

"Well, since I haven't had my first class yet, I don't know what chapters I'm supposed to read, so...I think I'll just look through the book and see what it says."

Brooke nodded, knowing he probably didn't want to start reading anyways. "It'll probably take me an hour to get through this."

"Sounds good," he replied. "I'll just sit and wait patiently."

She smiled and then lowered her eyes to her book and began reading. He took a sip of his coffee and opened his book.

After twenty minutes of looking through it (and trying very hard not to fall asleep in the process), Cole figured he'd gotten a good enough background on the subject to prepare himself for tomorrow's class and closed the textbook.

He snuck a glance at Brooke, who was intensely focused on her reading. Her long brown hair cascaded down her back, the shorter pieces falling onto the table, partially concealing her face. It was enough to make him feel hot, as he tugged at the neckline of his dark v-neck t-shirt to help him cool down.

Desperate for a distraction, the earth ninja looked around the coffee shop, admiring the decor. That's when he noticed a rack of newspapers next to the counter. Quietly as he could, in order to not disturb Brooke, Cole got out of his chair and walked over to the rack of periodical publications and selected today's edition of Ninjago City's largest newspaper. Bringing it back to their table, he sat back down and began to read.

Not surprisingly, the attack on Jamanakai Village was featured on the front page. The available photos of the four suspects were printed. The images were grainy and the angles of the photographs were not ideal, but he could tell that he had not run into anyone who looked like them on his first day of campus.

He continued reading the rest of the newspaper, hoping to find something else interesting before he lost his mind. His eyes rested on a particular story, located in the middle of the paper. "Mayor to Receive Medal in Wentz Hall on September 16th". He quickly scanned the article, and saw that it was expected to be a highly-attended ceremony, and many dignitaries were already planning to be present.

Hmm, interesting… the earth ninja thought.

Before he could dwell on the subject further, he heard the sound of a textbook being slammed shut.

"Done!" Brooke happily declared.

"Ah, good!" Cole congratulated her. "Do you want another latte to celebrate? Or one of those big chocolate chip cookies?" he teased, though he would've gotten her one if she had asked.

Brooke smiled. "No, but thanks anyway." She looked at her watch. "I probably should be heading back to my room. I'm glad my classes this semester are done early in the day, but it means they start early in the day."

"Same," Cole stated. "Why don't we start heading back then?"

She packed up her backpack while he put the newspaper on the reading rack and disposed of their coffee cups. Then they exited the cafe and stepped out into the warm night air, as the unseasonable warmth still lingered over Ninjago City. Brooke's dormitory building, known as Schilling Hall, was located three blocks away.

The couple began their walk in a comfortable silence, listening to the buzz of the late summer cicadas.

"So I read in the paper that the mayor of Ninjago City is going to be on campus on Monday the 16th. Do you know anything about that?" Cole asked.

"Yeah," Brooke answered. "The university is giving him the annual Medal of Honor award for supporting higher education. Everyone's gonna be there, including Cyrus Borg."

"Oh, I'm sure Jay'll be excited about that," he joked, recalling how enthusiastic Jay was when they learned that Sam was going to be working for the famous inventor this past summer. "But really, how big is this thing gonna be?"

"Super big," Brooke answered, spreading her hands for emphasis. "Ninjago University hasn't had an event like this in over twenty years."

"Is that so?" Cole muttered, stroking his chin, thinking. If what Brooke said was true, then maybe there was a reason for the bad guys to hang around campus.

"You okay, Cole?" Brooke asked, noticing the earth ninja was silent.

"Yeah, and I think we may have just found our guys' motive," he answered.

Soon they reached the front door of Schilling Hall.

"Well, thanks for walking me back," Brooke said, turning to Cole. "So, uh, what time are you going to lunch tomorrow?"

Cole mentally went through his schedule. "My last class of the day will be done at nine, but then I'm watching the library until noon, so I guess I'll eat right after." He grinned at her. "Do you wanna eat together?"

"Sure!" she smiled back.

"Okay, I'll wait for you in the dining hall lobby, and then we can go in together."

"Sounds good," she said. Then, to his surprise, she stood on tiptoe and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Good night, Cole," she waved as she opened the front door of Schilling Hall.

"Uh, g'night," he stammered, watching her as she disappeared into the building.

He lightly touched the place where she had kissed him and smiled. Brooke had actually given him a kiss-not on the lips, of course-but still, it had to count for something. Maybe she truly did have feelings for him after all.

After recovering from the initial shock of being kissed for the first time by the charming brunette, Cole remembered the new piece information that he had been given, by none other than the object of his affection.

He had to tell his teammates about his recent discovery. Because a notorious event such as the mayor visiting Ninjago University to receive a medal was kind of a big deal, and would probably get a lot of coverage by the media. And would no doubt bring out the criminals.

It would also mean that the ninja would be staying at the college a week longer than they had originally planned, which was a good and a bad thing, depending on how you looked at it. On the bright side, Cole would be able to spend more time with Brooke. On the not-so-bright side, he would have to attend class and study, all while keeping an eye out for the crooks.


	12. Chapter 12

"I got your back, Kai!" Jay said, his face twisted in concentration.

After their somewhat intense exchange, Kai and Sam had gone to find Jay and Zane, who were playing video games when the couple had entered their dorm room. No one remembered exactly who joined the game first, but pretty soon, Kai and Sam found themselves playing Fist to Face 2, with Kai on Jay's team and Sam on Zane's.

Just when the game was getting intense, the gang heard a knock on the door.

"Come in!" the blue ninja yelled, not wanting to peel himself away from the TV screen.

The door opened and in walked Cole, who spotted his friends sitting on the floor.

"Hey, guys," the earth ninja greeted them.

At the sound of their teammate's voice, the group turned around.

"Hey, Cole," Kai said, standing up. "How was it?"

Cole rolled his eyes, knowing Kai was implying that he had been on a date.

" _It_ was good," he answered. "And I think I may have found something regarding our suspects."

"Oh, what is it?" Jay asked excitedly.

Following Kai's example, the rest of them stood up and huddled around the earth ninja.

"I found out there's going to be a ceremony at the school in honor of the mayor."

"You mean the Medal of Honor?" Sam asked, frowning.

"Yeah, that," Cole answered. "And, according to Brooke, the event's gonna be really big. Even Cyrus Borg's coming."

Jay's eyes widened. "Cyrus Borg?!" Everyone knew how much Jay admired the dark-haired executive.

"Yeah, and I think that's the reason why our guys are here," Cole said. "A huge turnout like this would be the perfect opportunity to strike."

"You think that they're planning to hurt the students here?" Kai asked, eyeing his girlfriend nervously.

The earth ninja shrugged. "Don't know. My guess is that they're after the mayor. Being the most powerful person in the city, he could probably pull a few strings if they're looking to do something illegal and they wanna get away with it."

"Then we have to warn him," Kai said, slamming his fist into his palm in an authoritative manner.

"On the contrary, I don't think we should," Zane said. "For he might cancel the event, leaving the criminals with no incentive to stay here."

Cole nodded in agreement. "Yeah, and we can't cancel the event, otherwise the guys will know we're onto them, and they might do something far worse to compensate."

"Worse? What's worse than attacking an entire village?!" Jay asked. His large blue eyes shone with worry.

Kai subconsciously put a hand on Sam's shoulder. "Don't know, but I'm not waiting to find out."

"So what are you guys gonna do then?" the blonde asked. The ninja were not aware that she and Brooke had both been planning to go to the event together. But after listening to the ninja's discussion, she was seriously reconsidering it.

Cole stroked his chin in thought. "Hmm, not sure," he said. "The only thing we know for sure is that they'll be there."

"Well, we should tell Lloyd," Jay declared. "Greenie can help us figure out what to do."

"Okay, so how about this," Kai said, "We wait until Lloyd gets back from the library, then we hatch a plan."

"Sounds good to me," Cole agreed.

Jay and Zane nodded their heads in approval.

At the same time, Sam glanced down at her watch.

"I suppose I should head out now," she said. By then, it was already ten-thirty, and she had an 8am class to go to tomorrow morning, therefore, she needed her rest.

"I'll walk you back," Kai said. Especially after Cole's recent discovery, he didn't like the idea of Sam walking by herself, alone in the dark.

"Okay, so after midnight, someone should stand at the door let Lloyd in, so we can tell him what we found," the earth ninja said.

"I'll let him in," Kai volunteered. "I'm already taking her back so I can just wait til midnight and just wait by the door."

The rest of the team nodded, signaling that they understood what was going on. Cole nodded as well, satisfied with the plan.

"Hey, and who knows, maybe Lloyd found something at the library."


	13. Chapter 13

Lloyd sat in the computer lab of the library, pretending to work while looking out for anything suspicious. It was almost the end of his shift, and so far, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. It was eleven o' clock, and most students who were at the library had left. Lloyd wished he could've be one of them.

"This is pointless," he mumbled under his breath. He regretted ever volunteering to do the night shift. All he wanted to do was go to bed, but his duties as a ninja took precedence over his personal needs.

He began surfing the web, just for the heck of it. If Zane were here, he could ask how to get into the library's database, since he didn't know how.

 _Maybe I could look at library's website. There might be something useful that could give us a clue,_ he thought.

Minutes later, Lloyd was scrolling through the library's news feed, searching for anything noteworthy that he could tell the guys when he returned to their dorm.

Much of what was in the news feed were events, some of which had already passed.

"Book club, scholarships, research opportunities..." Lloyd read out loud. "Nothing useful."

He was just about to give up when he scrolled further down the list, and realized that he had missed something.

"Wait..."

He scrolled up a little, and indeed saw the thing that has caught his eye prior.

It was a fairly large article describing the mayor coming to Ninjago University to receive the Medal of Honor next week, for keeping the city in tip-top shape for eight whole years.

Lloyd rolled his eyes. _Yeah, don't give the credit to the ninja who actually protect the city,_ he thought.

Setting his feelings aside, the green ninja examined the article.

"This could be important," he said. If the mayor was here, then it would possible attract the criminals, for whatever reason he still didn't know the answer to. "I've got to tell the guys."

However, before Lloyd could ponder the matter further, he heard the sound of the scanned at the front desk.

He peered into the main area of the library and saw that a student was checking a book out.

"And would that all for you today, Victor?" The librarian asked, her overly perky voice ringing throughout the library.

Lloyd's eyes widened. Was that _the_ Victor they were after?

"Actually, I'm looking for another book," a tenor voice answered. The student the librarian had referred to as Victor was about average height and was wearing a grey hoodie. Lloyd craned his neck, hoping to see his face, but since his back was turned, it was impossible to get a good look at him.

"Okay, and what is the book called?" The librarian asked as she began typing on her computer.

"Uh, it's called The Ancient Realms," Victor replied. His voice seemed to get softer as he read the title."It's for a class."

Lloyd narrowed his eyes. He didn't buy that for a second.

Of course, the librarian didn't seem to pay attention to the strange request. She scribbled something on a piece of paper and handed it to Victor.

"The book should be in circulation," the librarian said. "Upstairs to your right."

"Thanks," the hooded man answered, turning to go upstairs to find the book.

Lloyd quickly spun around to face his computer, pretending he hadn't been watching.

When the guy had passed, Lloyd surveyed his surroundings. There was practically no one left in the computer lab area, except one kid with glasses who was still working on homework.

Seeing as the student wasn't paying him any mind, Lloyd got up from his seat, intending to follow Victor upstairs.

The stairs creaked slightly as he made his way up to the circulation area, but not enough to make any real noise. He was glad his uncle had bought him a new pair of sneakers, just for the mission.

He slowly opened the door to the circulation area, and sure enough, heard the shuffling of books further back. Careful to not make a lot of noise, Lloyd tiptoed past the aisles of books and saw Victor skimming through a book.

The hooded student glanced up, seeing Lloyd out of the corner of his eye, then returned to the book. He obviously thought of Lloyd just as another student, which was a good thing.

The green ninja pretended not to notice him, but was able to get a somewhat view of his face, which was partially concealed by his hoodie. From what he could tell, Victor was a pale-skinned man with a slight beard. Overall, he looked pretty ordinary, but Lloyd knew better than to judge a person by their looks. Or to judge a book by its cover.

Lloyd stayed two aisles away from Victor, pretending to be searching for his own book while keeping an eye on his target. He peered through a small gap in the stacks of books and saw Victor was still reading the book, probably trying to decide if it was even worth checking out. While he was observing him, Lloyd saw the cover of the book, which was indeed titled The Ancient Realms. He didn't understand why these guys were so interested in the Cursed Realm, but whatever the reason was, it couldn't be good.

Lloyd waited for another minute or so until Victor finally closed the book, tucking it under his arm before proceeding back downstairs to check it out.

Once he heard the door click shut Lloyd left the area as well. When he went downstairs, he peered over railing, observing the young man as he checked out the book of interest at the front desk.

After giving a quick thanks to the librarian, Victor went on his merry way and left the library. After the suspect had left, Lloyd emerged from the stairway and exited the library, trying to look as casual as possible as he passed by the front desk.

Outside, Lloyd could see the outline of Victor in the distance, his grey hoodie illuminated by the glow of the streetlights. Determined, the green ninja followed the figure, keeping as much distance behind him as he possibly could that the man was still visible.

Suddenly, as if Lloyd had made a noise, Victor abruptly looked behind him, and immediately his eyes rested on the green ninja.

Lloyd swallowed nervously and fought the instinct to stand completely still, forcing himself to keep walking. He feared that Victor had concluded he was following him, and that was going to do something to him.

Victor's eyes lingered on Lloyd before his head turned around again, paying little attention to the disguised ninja.

Lloyd breathed a small sigh of relief. His palms were sweaty and he could feel his racing heart beginning to calm itself.

 _That was a close one._

The green ninja followed the hooded man for a couple more minutes before the man disappeared into a building, labelled Roosevelt Hall on the sign in front of the structure.

Recovering from his minor scare, Lloyd decided that it was best to call it a night and head back to his own dorm.

Needless to say, he had plenty to tell the guys when he got back.


	14. Chapter 14

Kai stood near the front door of the dorm building, waiting for Lloyd to return.

First he had walked Sam back to her dorm. He had spent a few minutes with her to make sure she would be okay before giving her a goodnight kiss, then returning to his own dorm to look out for his teammate.

Sure enough, a few minutes after midnight, he heard the sound of the door unlock. He peered through the window and saw a head of white-blond hair enter the dormitory.

"Ah, there you are, Lloyd. I was gettin' worried," Kai chuckled as the green ninja walked inside.

Lloyd playfully narrowed his eyes at his brother. "Yeah, right," he scoffed. His expression suddenly switched from playful to serious. "Anyways, I think I found one of our guys at the library."

Kai's eyes widened. "Y-you did? Who was he? What did he look like?"

The green ninja put a hand out to silence him. "It was the Victor guy. And he was wearing a hoodie so I couldn't exactly make out his face. But he was definitely doing something fishy. He was looking for a book called The Ancient Realms."

"Well, that's not fishy at all."

Lloyd nodded in agreement. "Yeah, and I found out that he lives in Roosevelt Hall, across the street from the library."

"Then we better go tell the others," Kai said.

"You were just reading my mind."

"Hey, look who I brought," Kai announced as he followed Lloyd into Cole and Jay's room where the others were gathered.

"Lloyd!" Jay hollered, greeting his teammate. "How was your stakeout? Did you find anything?"

"Yes, Jay, I did actually," Lloyd stated proudly, putting his hands on his hips authoritatively.

Cole shot the green ninja an exasperated look. "Well, spill it, Green Machine!" he encouraged, clearly growing impatient.

The blond threw his hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay! So, when I was at the library, I saw Victor."

Cole's eyes widened. "Wasn't that the guy who checked out one of those books?"

Lloyd nodded. "Yeah, and it sounded like he was planning to check out another one. A book called The Ancient Realms."

"Gee, that's not suspicious at all," Jay remarked under his breath.

"So what happened? Did you follow him?" Cole asked, ignoring his brother's comment.

"I was, until he spotted me when he was leaving," Lloyd replied. "I don't think he made the connection, but he knew that I was there."

The rest of the ninja glanced at each other worriedly. They hoped that their cover hadn't been completely blown just yet.

"As long as he does not know that you are the green ninja, you should be okay," Zane reassured his teammates.

"I don't think he did," Lloyd said, shaking his head. "But I think it was a close call."

"Well, what do you think we should do now?" Kai asked. "So far, we have a name, and the fact that he goes to the library often."

Lloyd glanced down at the ground on thought. "I say we follow him some more," he answered. "We know where he lives, so we can spy on him more easily."

"And not get caught while doing it," Cole added.

The other ninja nodded in agreement, satisfied with the plan.

"Soo are we still doing our library watches then?" Jay piped up. He figured that if they knew who the suspect was, then the stakeouts might have been unnecessary.

"Probably a couple more days wouldn't hurt, just to see if anything new comes up," Lloyd replied. "I say we do them just for this week."

"That sounds reasonable," Zane answered. The rest of them nodded.

Once that was settled, Kai let out a huge yawn. "Well, I'm gonna go get some shut eye. Have a busy day ahead of us, fellas," he said, stretching his arms out.

Cole rolled his eyes. "Yeah, and I am not looking forward to waking up early tomorrow."

"Sensei says the early bird catches the worm," Jay teased, earning a glare from his teammate.

Lloyd was the next one to show signs of fatigue. "We should all get some sleep, guys," he said, rubbing his eyes. "We'll reconvene tomorrow."

"Sounds good. Well, goodnight fellas," Cole said as Zane, Kai and Lloyd turned to leave.

"'Night."

As they headed back to their rooms, Kai turned to Lloyd. "Does your roommate notice that you're gone a lot?" he asked curiously. Unlike the rest of them Lloyd was in a unique situation, since his roommate didn't know (and could not know) that he was here for a different reason than getting an education.

The green ninja shrugged. "I don't think he cares. I told him I was going to the library tonight to study."

"So you're tricking him into thinking you're a good student," Kai chuckled.

"Hey!" Lloyd jabbed his brother in the shoulder, aware he was being teased. "I'll have you know, I'm a good student, academically and as a ninja."

"Whatever you say, Lloyd."

After the three said their goodnights, Lloyd returned to his dorm room, only to find Tyler sitting as his desk, reading.

Hearing the door unlock and open, Tyler glanced up to see his roommate walk in.

"Oh, hey, there you are," he said.

"Hey, Tyler," Lloyd said, sitting down on his bed. "Got a lot of studying in at the library."

The college student glanced at the clock. "I'd say so," he said.

"So what have you been up to," Lloyd asked, quickly changing the subject.

Tyler sighed. "I started reading about an hour ago," he said. "I still have to read another chapter but I think I'll be done by one or so."

"That's good," Lloyd answered. "I'm probably going to go sleep now."

"Alright," Tyler replied, returning to his reading. "Goodnight then."

"Goodnight."

Lloyd lay down and tried shutting his eyes, but his mind kept racing. He supposed he was used to having his brothers around but not a complete stranger sharing the same room as him. But Tyler seemed nice enough, and it's not like he was going to do anything to him. It wasn't like Tyler knew that he was a ninja, thankfully. He doubted the boy even cared that much.

He guessed his encounter with Victor had spooked him a little too. He kept replaying the scene at the library in his head over and over again. Had Victor recognized him? Had he been suspicious that he had been following him?

However, after thinking it through, Lloyd decided that he was probably just being paranoid. Victor had acted pretty casual, even though he had been aware that Lloyd was around, which could only mean that he didn't view him as a threat. Which was good, since it meant that the hooded man had not made the connection that Lloyd was following him, or worse, that Lloyd was one of the ninja.

Nonetheless, they would continue their search tomorrow. Another long night shift eagerly awaited him, along with his first day of class. He just hoped everything would go smoothly.


End file.
